A Dream While I'm Still Awake
by Sir Sleeps-a-lot
Summary: Nishikata may have gotten his first win at the festival, but Takagi is never going to stop teasing him. This is a fluffy one-shot following their not-a-date in season 2, episode 12.


**Hey all**

**I'm a bit late to the party, but I've dived head first into the Karakai Jouzu no Takagi-san anime, so I ended up writing this one shot. I really hope that you guys like it.**

**It's a fluffy one-shot following the last episode of the second season, which I wrote while listening to Kimi to Hikari like an obsessed person. It's a very nice song and the anime just left me wanting more. I'll have to pick up the manga soon as well.**

**As for the people who are following my other stories, I'll be updating A Lesson They Won't Forget at some point this week. The author's notes just take much longer with that story, so I've been putting it off.**

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"Well then," Takagi turned around, "thank you for walking me home."

Nishikata turned away, his hands digging deeper into his pants pocket.

"It's night, so…" he mumbled, "I didn't want you walking on your own."

Takagi smiled… as usual, his casual words and probably red face didn't match. She couldn't quite make out his expression from the lack of light and the position of his head, but she figured that she knew him well enough to tell.

She was pretty much right there. He was blushing, but that was the tip of the chaos that was in his head. He'd blame the festival, but it had been around for a lot longer.

No. This was Takagi-san's fault… the pounding in his heart… his palms sweating every time he thought of holding her hand… his brain blanking out randomly. He'd be just fine if he just didn't have those… feelings.

Nishikata's eyes squeezed as Takagi opened the door, revealing the overly lit entrance of her house. As his eyes got used to it, he could feel the bubble of warmth in him fizzle out. Next time they would meet, everything would be back to normal.

"Good night, Takagi-san," he started to walk away, "I'll see you later."

"You're forgetting something," she called. He glanced at his wrist.

"I gave you the purse back already, Ta–" his voice trailed off as he noticed her face.

"It was your win today," she smiled slightly, "so what do you want me to do?" Nishikata paused.

"But you won with the sparklers," he reminded, but she shook her head.

"I may have, but we did a lot more date-like things," a mischievous smile came to her face, "like you choosing that hairpin as a gift… or you holding my bag… or us playing with fireworks… or us holding hands," the words were doing their job, and Nishikata was getting more pink as the sentence went on.

"Geez!" he yelled, "why am I getting teased when I won?" Takagi shrugged.

"You're an easy target," she let out a soft laugh, "but you did win fair and square," she let out a sigh, "so what is my punishment game?"

Nishikata's smile grew at the sound of that… this was the first time that a punishment wasn't targeted at him. He'd done it… he'd gotten his revenge, and it had only taken a year and a half.

He could do anything now… force her to stand with her arms up so he could tickle her… get her to admit something embarrassing… or he could kiss her…

"No no no no no…" he shook his head, feeling his cheeks heat up again.

"You were thinking of kissing me, weren't you," Takagi smirked. He looked away.

"I-I wasn't," he mumbled, "I won't do that…"

"Why is that?" she teased, making sure to invade his personal space and get a look at his face, "you scared?"

"O-of course not!" he pulled away, "I just don't want to force y-anyone to k-k-kiss me," Takagi's smile only got broader as he struggled to get the word out.

"Heeh," she got a little closer before pulling away, her heart beating fast in her chest, "if you say so…" she gave them both space, "you could just ask and see," she whispered the last part.

"What was that?"

"I didn't say anything," she responded innocently. Nishikata breathed out, but the smell of Takagi's perfume was still wafting by his nose, making it a bit hard to think.

"L-look," he tried to shake some sense into his head, "let me just think…" she politely stepped back towards the door.

"You don't have to decide today, you know," she added, "it might be a while till your next win, so choose wisely."

"Damn you, Takagi-san," she allowed herself the smile at his annoyed voice, "I'll decide now."

"Yeah, yeah…" she replied, her fingers fidgeting with her obi, "please do."

She leant against the door frame and pressed her head back…

It's alright, right? To let things go back to what they were?

She glanced at her left hand, which tingled slightly. She really liked holding his hand, but it had taken so long for him to take it. Would teasing him just take him further away?

But even if she told him the truth, he'd accuse her of teasing him anyway.

She frowned and squeezed her palm. From the start, she could tell that she'd backed herself into a corner, romantically speaking… she could flirt with him all she wanted, but he'd never take her advances seriously.

She'd been okay with that before, but with each foot he came closer, she wanted a meter.

"I've decided, Takagi-san," he interrupted her thoughts. She turned back to him, and he paused, noticing her lack of an expression.

"What do you want?"

"Umm…" he scratched his chin, "I want you to answer a question of mines as truthfully and as completely as you can."

Takagi felt the hairs on her neck prickle at this open-ended question… he wanted complete and utter honesty from her.

"And no teasing," he added. She was a bit taken aback at him reading her thoughts, but she tried not to let that show on her face. This was dangerous!

"Okay," she agreed tentatively, "what's the question?"

What was he going to make her confess?

If he was going to ask about her feelings, would the truth even reach him?

He held his breath for a moment, before spitting it out.

"What am I to you, Takagi-san?" he asked, his one hand on his face covering his cheeks, but his eyes remaining on his companion. This was one reaction that he didn't want to miss.

There was a slight hitch in her breath, but she seemingly had mentally prepared herself enough for this.

"We're friends, aren't we?" she tried to laugh, but it was a higher pitch than usual.

"O-of course…" he agreed, but his cheeks started glowing even brighter, "b-b-but… you want to be more, right?" he mumbled the last part, his eyes on the floor. Takagi watched him.

"You noticed, huh?" her calm smile didn't betray the uneven beating of her heart, "Good job, Nishikata."

"Are you making fun of me?" he mumbled, "I wish you'd stop doing that."

"I'm not," she sighed, "I like teasing you, but it's a double-edged sword."

Nishikata scrunched his nose as he thought about it.

"I don't get it," he looks up, "like it teases us both?" she shook her head.

"It's more like… I can express my feelings whenever I like, but you'll never believe me," she glanced up at him, "if I said that I liked you, would you just think that I said it to tease you."

"Certainly," he dug his hands in his pockets, "but not tonight."

Even with his bright red face, he looked up at Takagi's face, who was taken aback slightly.

"I don't know why, but tonight is different," he scratched his head slowly, "so I'll believe whatever you say."

Takagi smiled, feeling her face heat up as well.

"Is that so?" she moved in next to him, "different how?"

Before he could respond, she weaved her fingers through his. He froze up, not used to that contact.

"S-see, you'd never do this," he looked down at their hands, "today feels weird."

"Like a dream, right?" she whispered. Nishikata nodded and tightened his grip on her hand, "you don't want it to end, do you?"

"I-I never said that," he hissed, but the embarrassment was audible in his voice.

"Well then," she looked up, "Is this a good dream… or a bad one?"

"It's good," he laughed nervously, "I'm not being teased, for one."

"Is that so," she smiled, "then tomorrow, I'll tease you extra to make up for that."

"Why do you have to be like this, Takagi-san?" Nishikata grumbled.

"Tonight is a dream, as we agreed," she smiled, "so I'm going to be honest."

"G-go ahead," he muttered. His eyes widened and she snuggled up into this arm.

"I was lonely," she said softly, "when you weren't watching the fireworks with me."

"I'm sorry," he squeezed her hand back, "I was searching for you the whole time, but there we too many people."

Takagi paused as she felt some trembling in the hand she was holding.

"I wanted to see the fireworks with you as well, Takagi-san," he admitted in a soft voice.

"It's alright," she squeezed his arm reassuringly, "there will be other fireworks, and we did get to play with sparklers afterwards."

It was silent for a moment.

"I was really happy when I saw you," she smiled, "maybe happier than I'd ever been in my life."

"I doubt it was that gr–"

"I love you."

Nishikata's eyes bugged out and his face became a darker shade of pink. Takagi let go of his hand and moved back so that she was facing him.

"That's how I feel about you, with no added mischief or deceit."

His lips trembled as he looked up at her face. She was blushing as well, but more obvious was the little smile she had on her face, her default expression.

No no no… she said that she wasn't teasing him.

"F-for real?"

"Yeah"

"But you're smiling like you're going to start teasing me again."

"I swear I won't," she smiled brighter, "I'm just relieved to say it properly."

"Ah, so it's like that?"

"I'm also happy that you like me too," she added mischievously. As she expected, he bristled.

"D-don't go putting words in my mouth!" he complained.

"So you don't?"

"I do… but I wanted to be the one to say it," he mumbled, "damn you, Takagi-san."

Takagi laughed, and Nishikata got even more disgruntled.

"Ok, I'll say it now, geez!" Takagi froze as he grabbed her shoulder and looked her directly in the face, "I love you, Takagi-san."

There was a longer pause as Takagi just stared, and Nishikata got redder and redder. He let go and turned around.

"How was it so easy for her to say?" he mumbled under his breath, "my heart hurts."

"What was that?" Takagi asked, although she had heard it properly.

"It's nothing!" he yelled back, but she just laughed.

"You're too easy to tease, Nishikata," she stepped behind him, "but it'll alright."

"I wouldn't say it–" his voice stopped dead as he felt her warm body pressed on his back and her arms around his front.

"In fact," she whispered in his ear, "I really love that face of yours."

Nishikata gasped, and she hugged him tighter. Despite the heat of the summer night, he couldn't deny how pleasant that felt. Till he felt her fingers move over his ribs.

"Nee, Nishikata," she whispered again, "do you work out?" He pressed his lips together so that he didn't laugh at the light ticklish sensation, "your stomach is surprisingly firm."

"A-a little bit," he held his breath, "though please don't move so much…"

"Oh, sorry," she let go, "you're ticklish there."

"Yeah," he sighed, a little sad that she pulled away altogether, "I should go now too… before your family comes to check why you haven't come in."

"I guess you're right," she smiled, "so I guess I'll see you tomorrow."

"What's happening tomorrow?" he turned to her curiously.

"Our date, remember," she grinned and skipped off towards the door.

"How am I supposed to remember something we haven't discussed?" he complained, but Takagi just laughed as she passed the threshold of her house.

"It can't be helped, huh?" she turned back to him, "we'll discuss it on LINE."

"Y-yeah."

"Later then, Nishikata," she closed the door behind her. He stood motionless for a minute before sighing.

"Damn you, Takagi-san," he stuffed his hands into his pockets and stalked off, his entire body was light and tingly, "at least let me say good night."

"Nee, Nishikata," he glanced back to see her by her window, still smiling, "good night."

"G-good night," he responded.

She grinned and blew him a kiss. As usual, his shocked expression didn't disappoint.

"Geez, are you still going to keep teasing me!?"

"Of course," she brightened at the thought, "I'm going to find more ways to tease you, in fact."

"Give me a break…" he responded sadly, but her smile only grew as she waved him off.

Still, he glanced up at the summer sky and smiled.

"A dream, huh?" he remembered those eyes light up as they caught his, "that was a very nice dream…"

Those eyes were more beautiful than the fireworks…

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**So there you have it... I really hope that you guys enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. Takagi and Nishikata are just adorable, and I think that they have a very interesting relationship, which I hope I did manage to show properly... though things becoming OOC pretty normal to me.**

**Thanks for checking this out, and please let me know what you think of it, and if you want me to write anything more in this fandom. Otherwise, I hope ya'll have a great day.**

**Ja ne**


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